Nowhere in any of the stories about Cat closing the former Lovat plant is it acknowledged that Cat is simply planning to do its manufacturing elsewhere.
In fact, Caterpillar executives are implying that the company is getting out of the tunnel-boring equipment business, claiming the business is "no longer a good fit" for the company.
That's not what they said a mere five years ago on purchasing Lovat Inc.
According to Caterpillar, the acquisition was "an excellent strategic fit."
If Lovat is no longer a good fit for Caterpillar, why don't they sell it instead of shutting it down?
Could it be because they are trying to hide the fact that this is simply another case of moving jobs to lower-wage jurisdictions?
Showing posts with label Boycott Caterpillar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boycott Caterpillar. Show all posts
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Boycotting Caterpillar for all the wrong reasons
Looks like our Caterpillar boycott finally has some serious traction. Seems a couple of big mutual fund outfits are all aboard the Caterpillar boycott for the simple reason that the IDF uses the Cat D-9 when they're demolishing Palestinian homes in the West Bank.
At least according to the BDS folks, who are of course trumpeting a great victory.
I'm not so sure. While I'm no fan of bulldozing Palestinian houses, let's bear in mind that the IDF also used the Cat D-9 to take down Israeli settlements in Gaza. Let's also bear in mind that whether it's the government of China clearing slums to build the Olympic village or the government of Brazil clearing slums to build facilities for the 2014 World Cup, the tool of choice is the Cat D-9.
When international mining conglomerates need to rape pristine wilderness to clear mine sites and build access roads, you'll find Caterpillar.
When crop irrigation channels or flood remediation works are built, you'll find Caterpillar too.
Caterpillar just builds the tool.
The IDF has been using Cat's premier machine ever since they've needed it, without ever causing a twinge among the ethical investment crowd. Not even when Rachel Corrie was run over by a Caterpillar in 2003 was Caterpillar blamed. So why now?
Caterpillar closed their London plant in February. This blog gave the matter considerable attention at the time. What was so hugely offensive about the plant closing is that it was so obviously an anti-worker move. A hugely profitable multi-national kills 500 jobs in a community for the simple reason that they can get workers to work for much less in another community.
In March the ethical investment funds delisted Caterpillar. The news just came out today because it was mentioned in their latest quarterly reports.
Suddenly the matter is a political football, and has been seized upon as a great "victory" by the BDS campaign. In reality, the ethical funds were responding primarily to the plant closing in Canada.
A Cat D-9 is a tool. I don't think Caterpillar is responsible for what the tool-buyers do with it after they bought one.
I do believe they are responsible for how they treat the tool builders.
That, and only that, is why Caterpillar should be boycotted.
At least according to the BDS folks, who are of course trumpeting a great victory.
I'm not so sure. While I'm no fan of bulldozing Palestinian houses, let's bear in mind that the IDF also used the Cat D-9 to take down Israeli settlements in Gaza. Let's also bear in mind that whether it's the government of China clearing slums to build the Olympic village or the government of Brazil clearing slums to build facilities for the 2014 World Cup, the tool of choice is the Cat D-9.
When international mining conglomerates need to rape pristine wilderness to clear mine sites and build access roads, you'll find Caterpillar.
When crop irrigation channels or flood remediation works are built, you'll find Caterpillar too.
Caterpillar just builds the tool.
The IDF has been using Cat's premier machine ever since they've needed it, without ever causing a twinge among the ethical investment crowd. Not even when Rachel Corrie was run over by a Caterpillar in 2003 was Caterpillar blamed. So why now?
Caterpillar closed their London plant in February. This blog gave the matter considerable attention at the time. What was so hugely offensive about the plant closing is that it was so obviously an anti-worker move. A hugely profitable multi-national kills 500 jobs in a community for the simple reason that they can get workers to work for much less in another community.
In March the ethical investment funds delisted Caterpillar. The news just came out today because it was mentioned in their latest quarterly reports.
Suddenly the matter is a political football, and has been seized upon as a great "victory" by the BDS campaign. In reality, the ethical funds were responding primarily to the plant closing in Canada.
A Cat D-9 is a tool. I don't think Caterpillar is responsible for what the tool-buyers do with it after they bought one.
I do believe they are responsible for how they treat the tool builders.
That, and only that, is why Caterpillar should be boycotted.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Hitachi expands where Caterpillar fears to tread
There are a lot of similarities between the operation that Caterpillar shut down in London recently and the Hitachi plant in Guelph, about an hour up the road.
Both operations were old-school manufacturing concerns. They made stuff. The work force enjoyed decent wages and brought a high skill level to the job. Lot's of steel-fitters and welders. Both the Caterpillar plant and Hitachi workers were represented by the same union, the CAW.
We know what happened with Caterpillar. Moved their operations to Indiana, which recently joined the ranks of the right-to-work-for-less states. They're hoping to trade the $30/hour London jobs for $12/hour Indiana jobs. Even thought Caterpillar earned record profits last year, they should be able to squeeze even more out of their new workers.
Hitachi meanwhile believes they can do just fine in Ontario. Same labor pool, same wage structure. They are doubling the size of their workforce in Guelph. They obviously see a future there. Sure, they could go on a union-busting rampage too, exit to a right-to-work state, screw the workers and add the savings to the executive bonuses.
Instead, they're doing the right thing.
Both operations were old-school manufacturing concerns. They made stuff. The work force enjoyed decent wages and brought a high skill level to the job. Lot's of steel-fitters and welders. Both the Caterpillar plant and Hitachi workers were represented by the same union, the CAW.
We know what happened with Caterpillar. Moved their operations to Indiana, which recently joined the ranks of the right-to-work-for-less states. They're hoping to trade the $30/hour London jobs for $12/hour Indiana jobs. Even thought Caterpillar earned record profits last year, they should be able to squeeze even more out of their new workers.
Hitachi meanwhile believes they can do just fine in Ontario. Same labor pool, same wage structure. They are doubling the size of their workforce in Guelph. They obviously see a future there. Sure, they could go on a union-busting rampage too, exit to a right-to-work state, screw the workers and add the savings to the executive bonuses.
Instead, they're doing the right thing.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Commie blogger sees light, applies for job at Caterpillar plant in Georgia
That's right folks!
Gonna roll up the rugs here at Falling Downs and head for the Peach State. I'll be joining up with my dream team, the Newt and Cain Travelling Revival Show.
Gonna stay awhile too.
Dusted off those welding tickets and sent my resume to Caterpillar. Got my eye on one of those twelve dollar an hour jobs at the new plant they're building just outside Athens.
Already scoped out the real estate market in the new 'hood. Figure I can find me a nice,and I mean really nice trailer within a fifteen minute drive of the plant for about fifty thou. Maybe even less if I bargain hard.
Planning to pick up some new wheels too. No point heading south with the fleet. Fellow over in Johns Creek has a almost mint '79 Lincoln Town Car on offer for a mere $3,500. Has the half-vinyl roof and the leather interior, and according to the ad almost everything works.
The '79 was the last of the big sleds. Two and a half tons of American glory floating down the Interstate! Cadillac had downsized in '77. Lincoln didn't go to the smaller platform till '80. This particular car has the 400 instead of the 460, and lacks the moon roof, but I'm sure she'll do fine for my new life in Georgia.
Coincidentally, twelve bucks an hour was what I made at Harjim Machinery Works when that Lincoln was new, but I couldn't afford it then.
Just goes to prove that good things come to those who wait long enough!
Gonna roll up the rugs here at Falling Downs and head for the Peach State. I'll be joining up with my dream team, the Newt and Cain Travelling Revival Show.
Gonna stay awhile too.
Dusted off those welding tickets and sent my resume to Caterpillar. Got my eye on one of those twelve dollar an hour jobs at the new plant they're building just outside Athens.
Already scoped out the real estate market in the new 'hood. Figure I can find me a nice,and I mean really nice trailer within a fifteen minute drive of the plant for about fifty thou. Maybe even less if I bargain hard.
Planning to pick up some new wheels too. No point heading south with the fleet. Fellow over in Johns Creek has a almost mint '79 Lincoln Town Car on offer for a mere $3,500. Has the half-vinyl roof and the leather interior, and according to the ad almost everything works.
The '79 was the last of the big sleds. Two and a half tons of American glory floating down the Interstate! Cadillac had downsized in '77. Lincoln didn't go to the smaller platform till '80. This particular car has the 400 instead of the 460, and lacks the moon roof, but I'm sure she'll do fine for my new life in Georgia.
Coincidentally, twelve bucks an hour was what I made at Harjim Machinery Works when that Lincoln was new, but I couldn't afford it then.
Just goes to prove that good things come to those who wait long enough!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Small steps; the Cat Boycott begins
Mark's Work Wearhouse, the work-clothes retailer owned by the Canadian Tire conglomerate, announced yesterday that their stores in the London area will not be selling CAT brand boots and work togs from now on.
That's a small step in the right direction. But the Caterpillar Corporation isn't about the CAT label on a pair of made-in-China workboots. That's a minor naming fee that doesn't cover the cost of a single high-hoe or locomotive.
But it's a start.
That's a small step in the right direction. But the Caterpillar Corporation isn't about the CAT label on a pair of made-in-China workboots. That's a minor naming fee that doesn't cover the cost of a single high-hoe or locomotive.
But it's a start.
Boycott Caterpillar; the logistics
I thought I was just a voice crying out in the proverbial wilderness when I first raised the call for a Caterpillar boycott.
Turns out there are lots of folks on board.
And I may have been a bit optimistic to assume that a boycott would start with the operators.
The operators have their hands tied in a lot of ways. To be sure, they can make their distaste for the Cat brand known to their employers, but at the end of the day they are not the guys who actually sign the contracts to buy Cat shit.
Those buyers are the people who have to get the message.
A very good chunk of Cat sales go to government agencies all around the world. Whether it's a road grader in Wisconsin or a land-fill dozer in Cairo, when public money goes to Caterpillar the democratic masses have a say in the purchase.
And there's lots of heavy equipment manufacturers all over the world who are more worker-friendly than the greedy shitbags at Caterpillar.
From the operators to the township clerks to the fleet operators who buy the Caterpillar brand, let's let them know that the times are changing.
The whole world can dig ditches and pave roads and grade gravel and pull 100 car container trains through the Rocky Mountains without ever starting a machine that says "Caterpillar" on the side.
Caterpillar needs to know this.
Turns out there are lots of folks on board.
And I may have been a bit optimistic to assume that a boycott would start with the operators.
The operators have their hands tied in a lot of ways. To be sure, they can make their distaste for the Cat brand known to their employers, but at the end of the day they are not the guys who actually sign the contracts to buy Cat shit.
Those buyers are the people who have to get the message.
A very good chunk of Cat sales go to government agencies all around the world. Whether it's a road grader in Wisconsin or a land-fill dozer in Cairo, when public money goes to Caterpillar the democratic masses have a say in the purchase.
And there's lots of heavy equipment manufacturers all over the world who are more worker-friendly than the greedy shitbags at Caterpillar.
From the operators to the township clerks to the fleet operators who buy the Caterpillar brand, let's let them know that the times are changing.
The whole world can dig ditches and pave roads and grade gravel and pull 100 car container trains through the Rocky Mountains without ever starting a machine that says "Caterpillar" on the side.
Caterpillar needs to know this.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Caterpillar celebrates record year by screwing workers
2011 was a very good year for the Caterpillar company. Sales and profits have never been higher.
But even when you're more profitable than ever, there's a sure-fire way to ratchet record profits up to even higher levels.
Ratchet down the wages of the folks who actually build your Caterpillar stuff.
That's what's going on right now at the Caterpillar locomotive plant in London Ontario. Purchased from General Motors via a very profitable layover at a hedge fund, Electro-Motive Diesel employs about 500 workers in the southern Ontario city.
The skilled welders and steel-fitters at Electro-Motive have been given an ultimatum by the company that is coming off the best financial year in its history: work for half of last years wage or we'll shut you down and send the work somewhere else.
Makes sense to me. Just because you're having the best year in your history doesn't mean next year can't be even better. And if you have to rip the guts out of the union folks who build your stuff, well, that's the way it goes.
This is where I lapse into fantasies of worker solidarity. What if the guys who operate Caterpillar equipment world-wide simply said "no thanks - I won't operate equipment that is built by a company that squeezes it's surplus profits out of the paychecks of their workers."
Construction sites and mines and road-building projects all over the world would shut down overnight.
But even when you're more profitable than ever, there's a sure-fire way to ratchet record profits up to even higher levels.
Ratchet down the wages of the folks who actually build your Caterpillar stuff.
That's what's going on right now at the Caterpillar locomotive plant in London Ontario. Purchased from General Motors via a very profitable layover at a hedge fund, Electro-Motive Diesel employs about 500 workers in the southern Ontario city.
The skilled welders and steel-fitters at Electro-Motive have been given an ultimatum by the company that is coming off the best financial year in its history: work for half of last years wage or we'll shut you down and send the work somewhere else.
Makes sense to me. Just because you're having the best year in your history doesn't mean next year can't be even better. And if you have to rip the guts out of the union folks who build your stuff, well, that's the way it goes.
This is where I lapse into fantasies of worker solidarity. What if the guys who operate Caterpillar equipment world-wide simply said "no thanks - I won't operate equipment that is built by a company that squeezes it's surplus profits out of the paychecks of their workers."
Construction sites and mines and road-building projects all over the world would shut down overnight.
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